July - 25
A DEADLY SIN: LUST
Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit . . . . Therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
By definition, lust is intense desire. We sometimes talk about lust for power or money.
The deadly sin the church talks about, though, relates to sexual desire. That’s what Romans 1 addresses. Sex is a wonderful gift that God has given to and for marriage. The desire for sexual intimacy is not wrong in itself. God created people with sexual desire and with this potential to bless marriage.
But lust can take my mind or heart or action outside the boundaries God intended. I run into trouble when lust shapes the way I see people, the way I see sex, the way I see love. When I nurture lust and let it advance in my heart, I am destroying relationships with others.
Sexual sin also damages my relationship with myself. Sexual intimacy is not where we really find ultimate fulfillment. What we really crave is to love and be loved by another, and we don’t need sex for that. As one psychologist put it, lust desires to gain with fantasy partners what can only be gained through the loving giving of oneself.
Lust turns me away from the very thing I most deeply need and desire. The more I turn from love to lust, the more I also turn away from God. That’s why it’s so deadly. That’s why I need to ask myself not just about lust but about where I am in giving my love to others.
PRAYER
Lord, sexual sin is all around; it’s close to our hearts. Please help me not simply to fight lust but also to pursue love the way you intended. Help me to find love first in you. Amen.
情欲的定义是一种强烈的渴求，我们有时是指对权力或金钱的欲望。
然而，教会提到这致死的罪，是特别指对性的欲望而言，这正是罗马书１章所说的。性是神赐与单为婚姻而设的美妙礼物，渴求性爱本身没有错，神造人有性欲，祂以此来祝福婚姻。
可是，情欲使我们的心思、意念，和行为超越了神定的界限。若我看人、看性、或看爱的态度都受情欲所影响，我便有问题了。当我容让情欲在我心里增长时，我便会破坏与别人的关系。
淫乱更损害我与自己的关系，我们不能在性爱中找到最大的满足，我们最渴望的是去爱和被爱，而这些都不牵涉性。正如某心理学家所说，有些东西只能透过舍己的爱才能得到，而我们的欲望却妄想在梦中情人身上得到。
情欲妨碍我得到我最需要和最渴慕的东西，当我越发舍弃爱转向情欲时，我亦离开神越远，所以情欲能致人于死地，因此我不但需要省察我的情欲，我更需要自问，我爱人爱到甚么地步。
祷告
主啊，淫乱的事到处可见，我们的心很容易受影响。求祢帮助我，不单要与情欲争战，更要按所愿的追求爱；又求祢帮助我首先在里面找寻爱。阿们。